Facing firm opposition from Senate Republicans, President Barack Obama went ahead with his nomination for the vacant Supreme Court seat left by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

From The White House’s Rose Garden, Obama announced Wednesday that he has chosen to nominate Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacant seat. Garland is by most accounts a moderate pick which will be seen as a strategic move by Obama.

“I’ve selected a nominee who is not only recognized as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence,” said Obama. “These qualities, and his long commitment to public service, have earned him the respect and admiration from leaders from both sides of the aisle.”

A political battle emerged over the seat immediately after Scalia’s death in February. Senate Republicans said the would not hold a hearing to review the President’s nomination, regardless who it was. The GOP lawmakers have said flat out that the nominee will be rejected. The Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the GOP majority leaders saying that believe the nomination should be made after the election.

“This nomination will be determined by whoever wins the presidency in the polls,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “I agree with the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation that we not have hearings. In short, there will not be action taken.”

Critics have said that the Senate Republicans are not upholding their constitutional duties by refusing to hear the nominee, while the politicians say it is within their constitutional rights to withhold their approval.

“Today President Obama has fulfilled his Constitutional obligation to send to the United States Senate a nominee worth of filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in a statement. “It is now the constitutional duty of the United States Senate– all 100 of us – to consider this nominee through a hearing, debate and vote.”

it is wise to give the American people a more direct voice in the selection and confirmation of the next justice. #SCOTUS

Garland has served as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit since 1997. In 2013 he was appointed to be the chief judge for that court. Prior to that he supervised the prosecution of those involved with the Oklahoma City bombings in the 90s as a deputy assistant attorney general during the Clinton administration. Garland is originally from Chicago and graduated with a law degree from Harvard Law School.

On their website, the White House has posted a confirmation tracker for Garland’s nomination along with comparisons of the time it took to approve justices Anthony Kennedy and Elena Kagan as well as Chief Justice John Roberts. They have also launched a new Twitter handle which will follow the nomination process.